megazooms

Nikon's entry-level point-and-shoots reborn

Nikon's Coolpix L100 and L20 were very popular models last year and actually continue to be well trafficked on CNET. That has a lot to do with their price tags and far less to do with their quality. I didn't review the L20, but the L100 was a fairly weak camera. (But it had a 15x zoom for less than $250!) Nikon is now announcing their updates: the Coolpix L110 and L22.

For the same MSRP as the L100 ($279.95), Nikon increased the camera resolution to 12 megapixels and the 3-inch LCD resolution from 230K dots to … Read more

Nikon refreshes Coolpix S-series models adding HD movie capture

Ho hum, ho hum. Another day closer to PMA 2010 and another bunch of camera announcements. This crop from Nikon fills in the company's "S is for style" line. I've listed out the few specs Nikon managed to scribble into its press release. I've marked the upsell features on the cameras so you can see just what $50 more is getting you. The most impressive thing with these, though, is that Nikon finally managed to put a 720p HD movie mode into three of the four models. Enjoy.

Coolpix S3000

12 megapixels 4x wide-angle Zoom-NIKKOR … Read more

New Olympus megazooms get rolled-back prices

Perhaps the most notable thing about Olympus' two new megazoom cameras is the pricing: the top-end model spot, now occupied by the SP-800 UZ, drops to $349.99, while the new budget brother SP-600 UZ comes in at $249.99.

The SP-800 UZ introduces a paparazzi-friendly 30X zoom lens. (For what it's worth, Fujifilm beat Olympus to the announcement by an hour.) Despite the lens, the camera is significantly smaller and lighter than its predecessor, thanks to switching to a rechargeable lithium ion battery and, unfortunately, getting rid of the EVF. While I'm not a big fan of … Read more

Fujifilm enhances its EXR compact megazoom

The FinePix F70EXR was a decent enough compact megazoom, but wasn't without its issues. Fujifilm's refreshed it for spring, adding extra features and enhancing what was already there.

At less than an inch thick, the F80EXR is packing a 27mm-equivalent wide-angle lens with a 10x zoom, which is still pretty amazing, and on back is a 3-inch LCD. The resolution has been bumped up to 12 megapixels; that's good because the EXR modes for improved dynamic range and lower noise at higher ISOs require the resolution to be halved. Also improved is the camera's movie mode … Read more

Fujifilm offers up two very similar megazooms

How important to you is an HDMI output on your camera? That's the question you'll have to ask yourself when deciding between the new Fujifilm FinePix S1800 and the S2550HD.

Both 12-megapixel models feature a Fujinon 18x zoom and 28-504mm-equivalent lens, HD movie recording (720p), mechanical sensor-shift image stabilization, and a 3-inch LCD and electronic viewfinder. The S2550HD, however, has a Mini-HDMI out for connecting directly to an HDTV or monitor, which will cost you roughly $30 more.

The S1800 does have a couple extras to make you think twice about spending the extra cash, though. For some … Read more

Fujifilm redesigns its J-series point-and-shoots

With four models priced from $129.95 to $249.95, there's a lot of upselling going on with Fujifilm's latest J-series cameras. The ultracompacts have some common features, though, such as all-metal bodies, the company's Tracking Auto Focus system, face detection, and the capability to capture video at 720p HD quality.

The JV100 is basically an entry-level ultracompact with a rechargeable battery, which is all that separates it from the manufacturer's AV100. Likewise, the JX250 is separated from the AX200 by a rechargeable battery and a 14-megapixel sensor.

If the JX250's 5x zoom lens isn't enough, you can step up to the 10x zoom lens on the 12-megapixel FinePix JZ300 and 14-megapixel JZ500. Other than resolution, the JZ500 gets Pet Detection (the camera can detect and prioritize focus on cats and dogs) and Face Recognition, which lets you attach basic information to a photo of a person's face for prioritizing focus when you take pictures of that person later as well as for tagging for easier organization.

FinePix JV100

12 megapixels Fujinon 3x optical zoom 2.7-inch LCD HD (720p) movie capture Digital image stabilization Smile and Blink Detection Choice of black or blue $129.95, February 2010 FinePix JX250 Upsell: 14 megapixels Upsell: Fujinon 28mm-equivalent lens with 5x optical zoom 2.7-inch LCD HD (720p) movie capture Digital image stabilization Smile and Blink Detection Black only $159.95, April 2010… Read more

Fujifilm's megazoom leaves twentysomething behind

Fujifilm tosses in a boatload of this-year's-buzz technologies into its new FinePix HS10. The upside of this is that it includes a 10-megapixel backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor, which promises an improvement in low-light photographs; manual zoom ring on the lens; a 7-frame, full-resolution 10fps burst mode; 3-inch tilting LCD (albeit at the common but low resolution of 230,000 pixels); and 1080p HD movie capture with stereo sound. It also has a full set of manual and semimanual exposure modes, and supports simultaneous raw+JPEG capture. On the downside, Fujifilm's first out of the gate to announce a 30x … Read more

GPS, manual controls added to Panasonic 12x megazoom

Replacing the very popular Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3, the company's top-of-the-line compact 12x megazoom, is the DMC-ZS7. The 12x f3.3-4.9 25-300mm-equivalent lens stays the same as in the prior model, but gets a bunch of new extras including built-in GPS.

The GPS will add latitude and longitude to the EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) data and display real-time location information during shooting and playback. Stored in the internal memory are more than 500,000 landmarks, covering 73 countries, that will be displayed on the 3-inch, 460K-dot LCD while taking a picture of the landmark and tagged in the … Read more

Panasonic 8x zoom compact gets a little fresh

Before you get all broken up and angry 'cause you just bought a ZR1, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR3 is a fairly minor update to that camera. The key ingredient--the 8x f3.3-5.9 25-200mm-equivalent lens--is unchanged from the ZR1, as is the compact body, advanced Power O.I.S. image stabilization, and fast AF system.

What's added is the ability to record video in AVCHD Lite format as well as Motion JPEG HD-quality video and a couple of new image-processing options. One, Intelligent Resolution, is designed to improve the results from using the digital zoom (aka Intelligent Zoom) or … Read more

Megazoom with GPS star of five Samsung camera announcements

Out from the avalanche of CES announcements and way before any PMA 2010 releases, Samsung drops five new models. None of them is all that exciting, though, which could explain the odd timing.

Whatever the reason, the most interesting is probably the HZ35W, a compact 15x megazoom with an ultrawide-angle lens, full manual controls, and built-in GPS for instant geotagging. A partner model, the HZ30W, is almost identical except the GPS is jettisoned and the screen is an LCD instead of an AMOLED. They're follow-ups to the HZ15W/HZ10W that had pretty mediocre photo quality and some design issues; hopefully those have been ironed out in this round.

Also announced were three ultracompacts: the Samsung TL110, the TL104, and the SL630. The two TL-series models are particularly thin at less than 0.7 inch, and the SL630 is just normal thin. All three feature wide-angle lenses, but are otherwise unremarkable.

They will all be out in February/March and, in true Samsung fashion, no prices were released.

Samsung HZ35W: 12 megapixels 24mm-equivalent wide-angle lens with 15x zoom 3-inch AMOLED screen GPS (geotagging, visual map, real-time location display) 4.2 x 2.4 x 1.1 inches 720p video (HDMI out) Full manual controls March 2010 Samsung HZ30W: 12 megapixels 24mm-equivalent wide-angle lens with 15x zoom 3-inch LCD 4.2 x 2.4 x 1.1 inches 720p video (HDMI out) Full manual controls March 2010… Read more